Yu Jiuzhen steadied his emotions, then clasped his fist in greeting. “It’s been a few months since we last saw each other, Fellow Daoist Su. You’re even more impressive than before.”

One sentence broke through the stifled atmosphere.

The middle-aged scholar and his companions all looked conflicted.

They’d traveled here alongside Su Yi, but laughably—and regrettably—they didn’t realize they had an expert in their midst!

“You’re busy setting up a formation. Don’t tell me it’s targeted at me?” Su Yi said as he looked at the cultivators busy throughout the mountain.

“How could we even think of such a thing?” Yu Jiuzhen laughed bitterly. “I won’t hide it from you. We’re improving our formations for fear that the aftershock of your duel with His Excellency Dongguo Feng will reach our mountain.”

“Oh,” said Su Yi. “So that means that if I want to leave with Miss Xinzhao, I have to beat Dongguo Feng first?”

Yu Jiuzhen hesitated, then said, “Fellow Daoist, you don’t know this yet, but two days ago, Dongguo Feng made his position clear. If Xinzhao wants to leave, she’s welcome to do so at any time, and no one will stand in her way. Xinzhao chose to remain here anyway.”

Su Yi paused, briefly stunned. “Why is that?”

Yu Jiuzhen sighed. “When...